The situation seems to be getting worse on behalf of the defending champions KKR’s IPL 2025 playoff. Right now, they are in almost a losing position, getting just three wins from eight matches, making their way towards the playoffs a steep uphill task. Two weeks back, Venkatesh Iyer, who is the highest-paid player of the KKR this year, noted that if the team wants to score above 200, understanding the pitch as well as playing conditions is essential. He said, “That’s what aggression means for KKR.”
Unfortunately, this mantra seems not to have worked out. Morgan, who was the former captain of KKR, also remarked that the team has displayed the same flaws through the tournament this year. There surely are problems which are acknowledged by both mentor Dwayne Bravo as well as team’s captain Ajinkya Rahane. “We bowled really well, we faltered with our batting,” Rahane said after losing to GT by 39 runs at home.
Bravo added, “I think the bowlers, first of all, did a fantastic job restricting them to under 200. When you are chasing 199, you expect a good start. That’s what we’re struggling with throughout this tournament.” Last year, KKR did well off the back of greatly explosive starts from Sunil Narine and Phil Salt, whereas in this season, they have attempted three different opening partnerships with very little success.
So it comes as no surprise that their openers currently bear the lowest batting average of the season at 19. “IPL is a tough tournament, and when you don’t start well, batsmen go into a period where they lose confidence,” Bravo said.
“Form brings confidence. And we, at the moment, to be honest, don’t have that confidence,” he said bravely. There is talk about the worrying form of KKR’s three retained players, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, and Ramandeep Singh, but Bravo feels it is the failure in the middle overs that has put too much pressure on the finishers.
